Report: Zimbabwe targets human rights activists

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Zimbabwe uses laws and beatings by security forces to suppress human rights activists in the southern African nation ahead of elections planned for next year, according to a report released Monday.

The report by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders comes as President Robert Mugabe is pushing for constitutional amendments that will allow for elections to end his ZANU-PF party's uneasy coalition government with the nation's main opposition party. That has some worried that Zimbabwe could experience the same repression and violence seen in its 2008 election, in which at least 163 people were killed and some 5,000 were tortured or beaten.

"These stories paint a very, very gloomy picture about the situation of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe," said Thomas Sibusiso Masuku, a former high court judge in Swaziland who contributed to the report.

The report highlights the struggles of several activists in Zimbabwe, mostly targeted by security forces and allegedly arrested for flimsy causes. One activist was detained for weeks and questioned about her work after police took her into custody saying her car was allegedly near the scene of a killing, according to the report. Another activist who was investigating abuses around Zimbabwe's diamond region was repeatedly harassed, it said.

A third activist told investigators that security forces abducted her from her home in 2008 while she was in pajamas. The activist said men repeatedly questioned her about other activists while beating the soles of her feet to the point she suffered from internal bleeding, according to the report. Days later, the report said that security forces took her to a police station. They refused to allow her to be admitted to a hospital, though she received some medical care.

Officials "took her back to prison, with the intravenous tubes dangling from her body," the report said.

Those not beaten often find themselves at the mercy of laws in Zimbabwe that make it difficult to hold opposition meetings or publish critical articles, according to the report. It listed several circumstances where protesters found themselves attacked by riot police while peacefully demonstrating.

Mugabe and ZANU-PF have ruled Zimbabwe since the country gained independence in 1980. But his land reform policies that have laid waste to the country's once-thriving agricultural sector and he has resorted to repression to hold on to power. After the 2008 election, Human Rights Watch accused the ruling party and its allies of involvement in the election killings.

Zimbabwe's government has issued blanket denials of human rights abuses in the past. Rugare Gumbo, a ZANU-PF spokesman, dismissed the report as "nonsense."

"We know all these reports are all sponsored by the West," Gumbo said Monday. "They are preparing in the minds of the international community that when we have elections and ZANU-PF wins, to say they were not free and fair."

He added: "Zimbabwe is a peaceful country and there is no violence."

Officials with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

While acknowledging that the situation in Zimbabwe is "unlikely to improve in the near future," officials with the group who spoke to journalists Monday in Johannesburg repeatedly declined to specifically say Mugabe needed to leave office to allow for change. However, Arnold Tsunga, a past president of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, said a "change in the system of government" might be needed to end the apparent immunity from prosecution those who attack activists enjoy.

"These evil people who attack human rights defenders will have their backs broken ... only if they are not allowed to destroy all the evidence," Tsunga said. "We need to break the cycle of impunity if the country is to move forward."

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is part of a French organization called the International Federation for Human Rights, an umbrella rights group based in Paris.

___

Associated Press writer Gillian Gotora in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-zimbabwe-targets-human-rights-activists-120559456.html

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Short Range Communication Choices for Off the Grid Communications

Communicating off the grid, or without the use of conventional methods such as landline, cell phones, Internet, or WiFi can be a challenging prospect. You might ask why forgoing convention when the infrastructure and technology is?ubiquitous. If you think about it, cell phones are everywhere and Internet technology is entrenched. But there can be certain situations when using two way radios are a superior choice.

MURS, GMRS and Amateur Radio: Our communication trailer had several bands in operation in order to keep volunteers in touch at a recent large scale event

Consider how will you communicate when:

• A natural disaster such as a flood, hurricane, ice storm or tornado has disrupted cell communications.
• A man made disaster such as a fiber line cut has disrupted telephone and Internet communications.
• Hiking, camping or hunting in remote areas that aren?t served by cell towers.
• Your family or party or individuals need to communicate and coordinate at an event.

All of these instances call for using short range communication methods such as two way radio. For effective short range communications off the grid, there are three viable radio band choices MURS, FRS/GMRS, and Amateur Radio. Each one has their own particular benefits and one or more service may work for your group.

MURS, or the Multi Use Radio Service is an unlicensed radio service that uses 6 discreet VHF frequencies in the 151-154 MHz VHF range. Radios are limited to 4 watts, but you may use external antennas, and handheld and mobile radios as long as they conform to the 4 watt limitation. You will need to use land mobile or commercial radios, the FCC doesn?t allow you to modify amateur radio equipment for this band, but there is a wide variety of new and used equipment on the market that will work.

With the 4 watt limitation, range is limited with MURS. But you should be about to communication in a 1-3 mile circle in open terrain. Heavily forested and urban areas will limit your coverage. You can extend your range by using an external antenna such as the MURS J-Pole antenna. Putting an antenna up 20 or 30 feet on a portable or mobile MURS band radio will allow your base operations to coordinate with members in the field by an extra few miles. With a MURS antenna up 10 feet, I was able to communicate with volunteers at a recent event up to 3 miles away in an urban environment. Biggest benefit of MURS band is that it?s unlicensed, so you can hand a radio to just about anyone and let them transmit.

GMRS J-Pole antennas. They may be small, but pack quite a bunch for the UHF radio band.

The FRS/GMRS band is a combination licensed and unlicensed radio band. A total of 23 channels in the 462-467 MHz UHF band are available for use. Unlicensed FRS radios are limited to 500 milliwatts, but the licensed GMRS radios can run up to 5 watts on portables and 45 watts on mobiles. GMRS radios can use external antennas, but FRS radios may not have removable antennas. A GMRS license is required for operation, but licenses require no testing and are good for your immediate family.

Range with FRS is very limited, although manufactures claim a range up to 35 miles, in fact you will never be able to reliably transmit that far with FRS radios. With their low power and lossy antennas, expect a 1/2 mile on a good day. GMRS radios, with more power will have similar range as the MURS band: up to 3 miles with stock antennas and 3-5 miles or more with an external GMRS J-Pole antenna. Repeaters are also allowed on GMRS, increasing range even more. A high profile GMRS repeater could give your party 30-50 miles of communication range. Biggest benefit of GMRS is that being on the UHF band, it has better penetration in urban environments, and the ability to use higher power radios.

That brings us to the Amateur Radio band. Ham radios are available in a wide number of bands and frequency allocations. Since the amateur radio service doesn?t have discreet channels like the other services, you have a wide variety of VHF and UHF frequencies to work with for short range off the grid communications. But the most common frequency ranges are the 144-148 MHz 2 meter band and the 440-450 MHz 70cm band. In order to use the ham radio bands, you need a license. Licenses are free, but require passing a Technician level or higher amateur radio exam (testing fee applies). Every person in your party, group, or family will need to take the exam and receive a callsign. But once you are licensed, you have a wide range of frequencies, modes and equipment that you can use for non-commercial or personal radio communications.

Ham radios are available in portables up to 7 watts and mobiles that handle 80 watts or more. Plus you can amplifiers and repeaters to extend your range 75 miles or more. Just about every ham radio will accept an external antenna so the 2 meter J-Pole antenna or the 2 meter Slim Jim antenna will work great for your base of operations. If you are setting up a mobile command post for an event, our 2 meter break-a-way antenna stores compactly, but has the same great range as the full size model.

Cell phones and landlines were out of service when our emergency communication group was deployed to an area hospital after a tornado outbreak in April of 2011.

The biggest benefit of the amateur radio band for short range off the grid communications is its flexibility and wide variety of frequencies available. But everyone must have a license and unlike MURS and GMRS, you are limited to non-commercial communications. You can?t run your business on the ham radio bands.

As you can see, there are quite a few choices for off the grid communications. But what is the best choice for your group? It depends on your particular needs. MURS and GMRS work great for coordinating your group over a short distance (less than 3 miles), but if you are really concerned about communications after a disaster or need to keep your group in touch over challenging terrain and longer distances, than the amateur radio bands are the best choice. Whatever your choice is, KB9VBR J-Pole antennas has an antenna that will work for you. We are also the emergency communications and off the grid communication specialists, so we would be glad to answer your off the grid communication questions.

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Source: http://www.jpole-antenna.com/2012/11/25/short-range-communication-choices-for-off-the-grid-communications/

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The first hit computer game, Pong, is 40 years old | The Sun |Fun ...

COMPUTER gaming really has grown up - as classic arcade title Pong turns 40 this week.

The first commercially successful video game in history, it arrived in US arcades on November 29 1972, and immediately became a huge hit.

The tennis simulator saw players using paddles to knock a ball across the screen, with the action speeding up as the game progressed.

Originally created for games company Atari by designer Allan Alcorn as part of a training exercise, it proved so enjoyable that a prototype was installed in a California bar.

Mainstream success ... Seventies Liverpool footballer Steve Heighway plays Pong

And when Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell returned to the bar to find the coin compartment overflowing, he decided to put the game into full production.

It soon enjoyed huge success, with over 19,000 cabinets sold, and a home version released in 1975.

The title has gone on to be updated and remade for almost every console, including the PlayStation, Nintendo DS, and PSP.

It paved the way for the Seventies heyday of the gaming arcades, with 1978's Space Invaders and 1979's Asteroids also huge hits.

MAKERS Atari mark the fortieth birthday of the first hit video game with an enormous version of the title

And to mark its 40th birthday, Atari last week created an enormous version of the game at the Lights Festival in Kansas City, on the side of a 22-storey building.

Guy Cocker, editor of GameSpot UK, said: "While Pong technically wasn't the first video game ever made, it is certainly the one that started the games industry as we know it today."

He added: "Its importance can't be understated - it was the game that launched Atari, was the first game to gain mainstream success both in arcades and the home, and was copied all around the world by companies including Nintendo.

"It's gone on to appear on nearly every games console ever since, and is just as addictive today as it was back in 1972."

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fun/gaming/4666786/computer-game-pong-is-40-years-old.html

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States, cities are bracing for another hit by feds (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/266118517?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Divided Kuwait limps toward boycott-hit elections

A Kuwaiti woman walks past a board with the names and photos of next December's election candidates in Salwa, Kuwait, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. There is little middle ground but plenty of high-stakes tension as Kuwait stumbles toward elections for the most politically empowered parliament among the Gulf Arab states. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)

A Kuwaiti woman walks past a board with the names and photos of next December's election candidates in Salwa, Kuwait, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. There is little middle ground but plenty of high-stakes tension as Kuwait stumbles toward elections for the most politically empowered parliament among the Gulf Arab states. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)

KUWAIT CITY (AP) ? The message from Kuwait's emir is blunt heading into this week's parliamentary elections: Opposition factions should express dissent in the legislature, and not in the streets. The response from the opposition is equally uncompromising: We're not satisfied with what we can accomplish through parliament, so we're boycotting the vote.

There is little middle ground as Kuwait stumbles toward its second election this year for the most politically empowered parliament in the Gulf Arab states, which serves as a check on the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah. Violent protests and crackdowns on activists ? until recently rare in Kuwait ? have contributed to the high-stakes tension.

The outcome Saturday is certain to hand the ruling family and its allies a near-sweep of friendly lawmakers. Yet that is not necessarily good news for the stability of a country that has ricocheted from one political crisis to the next for nearly a year, including street clashes between security forces and an opposition coalition that ranges from hardline Islamists to youth activists.

For years, that legislature has served as a forum for the opposition to press their demands. But with the opposition's boycott likely to take them into self-exile from the political system, the worry is their new soapbox will be the street demonstrations like those that have engulfed many other Arab states in the past two years.

The potential fallout goes well beyond its borders. Any major upheavals in OPEC member Kuwait have potential repercussions on oil prices and the Pentagon's plans to use the nation as its hub for ground forces in efforts to counter the growth of Iran's military.

Gulf Arab rulers have so far ridden out the Arab Spring uprisings through a combination of factors including crackdowns and payouts to buy off potential dissenters. But the Gulf's biggest unrest by far ? a 21-month-old revolt against Bahrain's Western-allied monarchy ? shows no sign of easing and poses some the same quandaries as Kuwait for Washington: the need to maintain critical security alliances, but also to pay attention to shifting political forces in the region.

"There is a danger that the tensions between a ruling family (in Kuwait) intent on preserving its power and privilege and an energized opposition bent on security meaningful reform might escalate into open confrontation," said Kristian Coates-Ulrichsen, a research fellow who follows Gulf affairs at the London School of Economics.

"The example of Bahrain shows how everyone loses out in this scenario," he added, "but that alone is no guarantee that Kuwaitis can or will pull back from the brink."

Kuwait's protest alliance is held together by claims that the emir Al Sabah overstepped his authority by changing voting laws in an apparent attempt to undermine opposition and reformist electoral chances. Beyond that, there are a wide range of demands from all the different factions involved in the boycott, from Islamists wanting a greater say in the government to liberals wanting more openness in general.

The showdowns take forms similar to those in other parts of the region: clampdowns on Web activists and arrest sweeps against perceived backers of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that now leads Egypt and has a resurgent profile since the Arab Spring.

Last week, Kuwait's Interior Ministry announced the arrest of four people on charges of insulting the emir with posts on Twitter. Similar arrests have taken place across the Gulf and, earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates imposed new Internet laws that can bring jail time for Web posts deemed offensive to rulers.

Kuwaiti authorities also have echoed fears from other Gulf palaces over what they view as expanding threats from the Muslim Brotherhood. Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has warned of an "international plot" to overthrow the Gulf rulers.

The Islamists in Kuwait ? while a powerful force ? insist they are a distinctive, homegrown group that does not seek to topple the ruling system but wants a greater say in how the country is run. Their critics worry that this means a push toward stricter Islamic codes such as limits on non-Muslim worship or censoring artists and writers in one of the most politically open societies in the Gulf.

The past year has brought almost nonstop ? and highly complex ? political turmoil.

Islamists and their tribal allies won parliament elections in February and immediately pushed for greater clout in policy-making affairs. The Constitutional Court later disbanded parliament amid claims of flaws in the electoral district map, and reinstated the former government-friendly chamber from elections in 2009. That body, however, never managed to convene a session.

To further complicate things: The emir stunned the nation by wiping out the country's unusual four-votes-per-person system in favor of the standard one vote. Opponents say the new formula dilutes the ability of opposition groups to forge alliances and will increase the risks of vote buying and bribery.

"We will have puppetry, not a real parliament," said Mohammed al-Hatlani, a former lawmaker supporting the election boycott.

Liberal and youth groups ? while deeply opposed to the Islamist agenda ? have joined the boycott drive as a way to press for their Arab Spring-inspired demands for greater political and social freedoms. The unexpected alliance with Islamists and conservative tribes has startled even veterans of Kuwait's pugnacious politics.

Abdullatif al-Duaij, a prominent Kuwait liberal figure now living in the U.S., worries that fellow liberals looking for more openness have "lost their compass" by siding with the Islamists and others pushing the boycott.

"Today it's either you vote or you don't," he said. "There is nothing in between."

A series of protests and street clashes in recent months led the emir to order a ban on political gatherings of more than 20 people. In a message last week, he tried both threats and patriot appeals to cool down tensions.

"It is a great tragedy to have calls to take to the street," the emir said in comments carried by the official Kuwait News Agency. "Why the chaos and riots? Why the screaming and wailing and disrupting the business of the state and harming the interests of the people?"

It's all likely to leave Kuwait even more politically fractured and the new parliament facing challenges over its legitimacy.

In most of the Gulf, a parliament under pressure would matter little since elected bodies have very limited powers. Kuwait, however, stands out. Its 50-seat parliament has wide authority to pass laws and question ? or even dismiss ? members of the government.

Opposition lawmakers have publicly accused top officials, including members of the ruling family, of charges such as corruption and attempts to muzzle dissent. But even many protesters were stunned last month when an opposition leader, Musallam al-Barrack, broke taboos and openly denounced the emir. He was later arrested.

"He crossed all the red lines and shattered the boundaries of permissible opposition," said the researcher Coates-Ulrichsen. "The experience from North Africa and elsewhere in the Arab Spring shows that once these barriers are broken it is impossible to reconstruct them."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-25-Kuwait-Election/id-3fbf398fd1da48e3b32eff8b8b4d8141

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Real Sociedad held to 0-0 home draw by Osasuna

Associated Press Sports

updated 6:15 p.m. ET Nov. 23, 2012

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AP) -Real Sociedad squandered a chance to continue its climb up the Spanish league after being held to a 0-0 home draw by struggling Osasuna on Friday.

After two consecutive wins, Sociedad failed to take its chances at Anoeta stadium.

Carlos Vela came closest for the hosts in the ninth minute when the Sociedad forward met Carlos Martinez's in-swinging cross, only for goalkeeper Andres Fernandez to turn the ball round the post.

"We had our chances but also the bad luck that the ball didn't go in today," Sociedad forward Antoine Griezmann said.

Sociedad stayed in ninth place, two points off a Europa League spot.

Osasuna, meanwhile, remained in the relegation zone despite stringing together its third game without loss.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Beckham and Donovan, a love story

PST: It was a disastrous first few years, but the relationship between David Beckham and Landon Donovan improved dramatically over the seasons.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44298965/ns/sports-soccer/

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Free WebSite Hosting Vs Premium Web Hosting | Hugo Hosting

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Source: http://www.hugohosting.com/free-website-hosting-vs-premium-web-hosting.html

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